03Jan14

Ex-Guantanamo detainee and member of Bahrain's royal family joins Syrian
jihad

A former Guantanamo detainee who was transferred to his home country of
Bahrain in 2005 has reportedly joined the jihad in Syria. According to an article
in the Bahrain Mirror on Dec. 28, Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifah has
"return[ed] to jihad" by joining the Syrian mujahideen.

Citing undisclosed sources, the Bahrain Mirror reported that Sheikh Salman
was not appropriately rehabilitated following his release from Guantanamo and
was "alienated" from his family. This purportedly explains his trip to Syria,
where he has "joined the fight."

But Sheikh Salman first traveled to the Taliban's Afghanistan prior to the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorist attacks, indicating that he has long been drawn to the jihadist
cause.

Sheikh Ibrahim bin Mohammad al-Khalifa, Sheikh Salman's father, was quoted
in 2002 as saying that his son was detained by the Americans because he was
"accused of sympathizing with al Qaeda."

In a written statement to his combatant review status tribunal at Guantanamo,
Sheikh Salman denied any affiliation with al Qaeda or the Taliban. "I am not
part of the Taliban or al Qaeda," he wrote. "I am just a student looking to study
and I have no involvement with fighting or combatant [sic], or al Qaeda, or
Taliban." In a brief letter to American officials, his mother claimed that he
traveled to Afghanistan to serve a charity.

Leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessment

According to a leaked JTF-GTMO threat assessment dated May 13, 2005,
military officials and analysts at Guantanamo concluded that Sheikh Salman
did have ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda. But in that same memo, JTF-GTMO
described the Bahraini as a "possible jihadist" and recommended that he be
transferred to another country for continued detention. In a previous
assessment, JTF-GTMO advised that he be retained in the Defense
Department's custody.

Sheikh Salman "is a prince in the Bahraini royal family" and "related to the
current ruler of Bahrain, through a shared great-grandfather," the JTF-GTMO
file reads.

"From September 1999 until April 2000," Sheikh Salman "studied religion" in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Bahrain Mirror reports that Sheikh Salman studied
sharia at a branch of the Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University. The
publication reports that this college "is considered the capital of Salafi religious
extremism in Saudi Arabia."

From Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Salman traveled first to Malaysia and then Egypt,
according to the JTF-GTMO file. The ex-Guantanamo detainee allegedly
admitted having ties to Gamaa Islamiyya, an Egyptian terrorist group, but
refused to discuss these connections.

While in Egypt, Sheikh Salman "watched a television program ... that
encouraged Muslims to live in an Islamic state" and so he decided to travel to
Afghanistan.

Sheikh Salman's father then "wired him" $5,000 so he could make the trip, the
JTF-GTMO file notes, and Sheikh Salman stated that he paid the money "to
the Taliban embassy in Islamabad." Another "Bahraini source" cited in the
threat assessment "reported that a member of the Bahraini royal family paid
5,000 USD to have unlimited use of [a] transit house and access to the front
line." JTF-GTMO's analysts found it was "highly likely" that this source was
"referring to detainee."

Once in Afghanistan, Sheikh Salman allegedly met with various al Qaeda and
Taliban personalities. In Kandahar, he visited the Islamic Institute for Religious
Studies, which was run by Abu Hafs al Mauritani, a top al Qaeda ideologue
and adviser to Osama bin Laden. The Islamic Institute was known for
indoctrinating jihadists who would go on to commit suicide attacks and was
"tied to many al Qaeda personnel."

Sheikh Salman met with Abu Hafs directly, according to JTF-GTMO.

After the onset of war in late 2001, Sheikh Salman fled Kabul for Khost
province alongside a man known as "Muhammad Abdullah, whom detainee
believed was a member of al Qaeda."

Once in Khost, Jalaluddin Haqqani, a top "Taliban commander" and founder of
the deadly Haqqani Network, provided Sheikh Salman with "a place to stay."

Despite his reported ties to senior al Qaeda and Taliban figures, JTF-GTMO
concluded that Sheikh Salman was only of "medium" intelligence value. The
US military officials and analysts also deemed him a "medium" risk, "as he
may pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies."

Sheikh Salman was one of three Bahraini detainees transferred to their home
country on Nov. 4, 2005. One of the other two is Abdullah al Noaimi, who is
described in JTF-GTMO's file as one of Sheikh Salman's relatives, and
possibly his cousin.

Al Noaimi was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2008. According to a list of
confirmed and suspected Guantanamo recidivists released by the US
government, al Noaimi was "involved in terrorist facilitation" and "has known
associations with al Qaeda."

[Source: By Thomas Joscelyn, The Long War Journal, NJ, 03Jan14]

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